Chapter 11- Caprice ⅱ

The very distinct sweet fragrance of cherry blossoms wafted past Tao's senses as she looked at Aito with a warm smile.

It was amusing to see Aito trying to blend in with the kids, while he could very well hold a conversation with an adult, he couldn't at his very best, hold one with his peers.

He always subjected this difficulty in communicating with, his peers not being able to think rationally enough to hold a conversational exchange. 

In Tao's opinion, neither could an average adult. If everyone could think rationally, there wouldn't be any conflict. The conflicts, that only seem to pile on top of each other as time passes.

Yuuki, who had run off to buy some ice cream, came up as she took the spot Aito had left behind.

Not Tao's lap… the seat in the middle.

Yuuki handed one of the Ice creams she had in her hand to Tao.

"I bought it for Aito. You can have it since he's busy!" Yuuki said as she handed Mizuki one of her ice creams with a smile.

Mizuki didn't know whether to thank Yuuki for being considerate or resent her for not buying her one in the first place.

"Thank you." But she thanked her anyway with an awkward smile.

"We should come here more often," Tao said as she smiled, looking at Aito who had successfully blended in with the kids, he had some beef with the blonde at the start, but Aito handled it well. Tao couldn't be any prouder.

"That, we certainly should!" Yuuki said with her smile somewhat mirroring Tao's.

"We should buy this park!"

"Maybe not that far," Tao had the tendency to go overboard sometimes and Yuuki was Tao's natural buffer, at least on Earth.

"Hmmm. But where were you all this time? I suppose buying some ice cream wouldn't take this long?" Tao broke the silence that prevailed as she enjoyed the ice cream. One of the few delicacies she found fascinating.

Although Earth's civilizations were a blend between various higher planes in the past, after the first celestial summit and the emergence of champions, it had gradually deranged from the norm and formed its own variety of cultures and lifestyles, unique to the human race. The emergence of mortal technology and their ability to adapt as a race only strengthened this change.

Naturally, various inflow of culture from earth to Takamagahara and other higher planes through various channels was Tao's own new investment and the continuation of her brother's legacy. Something she would have to prepare Aito to inherit in the future.

As her brother had proven, there was nothing like Earth's culture to simulate the unsimulated minds of Gods. Something she had no qualms about capitalizing.

"I just didn't want to interrupt the moment between you and Aito," Yuuki said with something akin to a teasing smile forming on her face.

"Really?" Tao gave Yuuki a sidelong glance, "That's considerate of you."

Tao said with a smile, but Yuuki could feel the stiffness in that smile.

Tao had been too busy for the last few years, extremely and unnaturally busy. Yuuki knew that she wanted nothing more than to be fully involved in Aito's growth and indulge herself in her well-deserved 'vacation, but the previous negotiations with the World Tree of Earth and various opportunities that opened up because of these negotiations always kept her on her toes, often, not having enough to time to get herself involved in Aito's upbringing.

Of course, Yuuki ditching her own work to do exactly what Tao wanted didn't help Tao's annoyance either.

"I think it's working!" said Tao, looking at Aito with a displeased expression while working with the blonde kid.

"I doubt it, and I still do not approve."

"C'mon, do you want Aito to grow up without a social life?"

"No, but hiring a child to be your son's friend is not the way to go about giving your son a social life. He was perfectly fine helping me with the trainees and doing his own programming and biological Engineering research."

"For the record, I didn't hire the child, I asked his parents for a favour and they agreed because of my friendship with Mizuki, right Mizuki?"

"Absolutely." Said Mizuki who was trying her best to appear as nonchalant as possible.

"See? And how do bioengineering and programming go in hand? He's just wasting the time he could spend in leisure, that thing won't do him any good once we go back to Takamagahara, and start his Imperial studies."

Yuuki looked at Tao with squinted eyes, scrutinizing Tao's immediate need for justification. Yuuki didn't want to continue the conversation, as it was going in a direction neither of them wanted to confront.

She looked at Aito and commented.

"That little miscreant, using Qi sense on a tag game?" Yuuki had become quite proficient in filtering out Aito's Qi to spare himself the discomfort, and Ciel's control over the Qi made Aito's radar, nigh undistinguishable to anyone without advanced senses.

"Heh." Tao let out a chuckle.

"Actually, It's not a tag game-" Mizuki tried correcting Yuuki.

"Who cares!"

"Y-yeah." But Yuuki only wanted an excuse to deflect the topic.

Yuuki did a little trick as she disrupted Aito's Qi sense, sending a message to Aito.

Aito looked in their direction and scratched his head awkwardly, that simple gesture was enough to warm both of their hearts.

Aito returned to the game, and from the looks of it, he didn't seem to have any intention of withdrawing his senses and giving up his edge among his peers. Among the kids in the park, Aito was the only one without a quirk. Although the kids couldn't properly use their quirks, just bearing a quirk and the subsequent bodily alterations, gave them an undeniable edge over ordinary human kids.

Aito, coupled with his unmatched dexterity (bodily/hand-to-eye coordination -(body-to-senses-) and senses were an absolute unit among his peers.

His extraordinary feats even extended to the simple regeneration he displayed over the last two years, without the usage of Qi or any other equivalent forces.

Even considering the fact that he is a half-vampire, it was impossible since he didn't have any racial characteristics that had started to show itself.

Not to mention, even now, his vampire side was getting weaker while his human side was getting stronger and purer. Something Yuuki was overjoyed about.

Personally, Tao didn't mind either way. Although Aito's potential would be lower if he were to awaken as a vampire. That didn't mean Tao had any prejudice regarding the matter of race though. Not at all, she was open-minded compared to her teacher.

The little oddball of a creature had too much energy inside him that he had to expend somehow, and more often than not, Yuuki and Tao found dealing with Aito in various situations.

Yuuki took the warnings a little further as she found Aito imitating the movements of the trainees in the underground training area. There was nothing wrong with training from a younger age, but without his body's volatile situation resolving itself, training could lead to unpredictable outcomes.

The only saving grace was Aito's understanding during these situations, he was quick to understand, especially when they started guilt-tripping him over their concerns and worries. But that didn't stop Aito from finding various alternatives to keep himself busy.

For example, his newfound interest in modern AI technology and Human Biology… like, how do these two subjects go hand in hand?

Tao's wandering mind was brought into focus by a presence that flew past them.

It was an incredibly buff blonde man wearing a comic superhero costume, holding a pillow in his hands as if trying to study how to sleep while flying.

All Might in all of his glory flying back after dealing with some thugs in Osaka.[1]

The conflict started right after they arrived at the park, with the police force raiding an underground colosseum situated on the other end of the city and All Might joining the fray sometime later.

Tao had been more than a little annoyed by the peculiar timing of all these events but, contrary to her worries, the commotion didn't reach this side of the city and was contained in the other side. She had sent Ron, her personal butler to inspect the scene, to check whether anything supernatural was involved, but it seemed like her worries were unwarranted.

"All Might!" Yuuki spoke in a quiet whisper as if the name wasn't rolling down her tongue quite well.

"…"

"What a weird name! Like, they are supposed to pick their name in the hero school, and he chose 'All Might' off all the names out there?"

Tao looked at Yuuki mumbling and gave her piece with a Grin.

"Still better than 'Witch of the Silver Night'" It was Yuuki's title when she was still active on the field, although the name wasn't quite heroic. Then again, Yuuki wasn't a hero to begin with.

Yuuki only snickered, "At least I didn't give myself that name. That said, it's much more normal than, 'Princess of Tyranny.'"

Tao's smirk crumbled, and she looked at Yuuki, sometimes Yuuki can be can be the most insensitive human you can ever see.

"I can use the same argument; I didn't give myself the name. Hell, I didn't even know I had that name Until I arrived on Earth."

"Incompetence."

"Excuse me?~" Tao's voice was sweeter than the norm,

"Oh, look at that! the blonde tackled Aito." Tao narrowed her eyes at Yuuki, but she relented as she looked at Aito, who was being helped by some high school kids.

Mizuki who was also watching this exchange between the blonde and Aito frowned and was about to head over, but Yuuki held her in place.

"Leave them be, the kids are just playing. Besides it seems like they've already made up."

The blonde had already given a short apology in his own way, and it didn't seem like that tackle was intentional. Aito too didn't seem to mind on the surface, but Tao could recognize the smile he had at that time from a mile away, it was the same smile he had when he conspired with Merlin to trick Ron into drinking a tea made with salt and some other stuff Tao still couldn't identity of, but was more than enough to give a supernatural being like a Ron a loose stomach 'once'.

"My lady."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, like the prophesy, Ron appeared beside Tao in an abrupt fashion. It seems like he had completed his inspection.

"There wasn't anything supernatural involved, But I did come across a strange… Undead- chimera? ..."

Ron went on to detail the thing he had seen on the Colosseum. There were a lot of Youkai clans across Japan who got themselves involved in anything mortals deemed illegal, Tao was a bit sceptical as to whether this colosseum was run by any Youkai, but it seemed like it was run by another bigshot, and to think he used it as a quirk farm. She would have to look into it, since letting a mortal run wild wasn't on her agenda, especially with future cleanup and accounting she had in her plans. But for now…

"It seems like the humans are getting crafty with their experiments," Yuuki said, her expression nonchalant. But the contemplation behind her eyes couldn't be hidden.

"Give a detailed report to Yuuki" Tao saw her opportunity give some work to Yuuki who had been lazing around lately, and she took it.

"Hey! Why me?"

"-and notify the raccoon to keep an eye on happening in Osaka. And look out for all the youkai clans getting involved with him. it's about time we upped our game…"

"Lady Yuuki!"

The serious Tao and the pouting Yuuki were yet again interrupted by another elderly voice, it was Mr. Kosuke, Yuuki's butler.

The elderly man wasn't one to casually sound serious, as such, Tao halted her conversation with Ron as she looked at the man. And from the man's expression. The news was anything but pleasant. It seems like her short break will have to come to an end.

…

Aito hated to admit it, but he was having the time of his life, playing with little children. His all too occupied mind had glossed over the fact that he was supposed to put an act to Ease Tao's worries, not to enjoy himself.

These little kids, most of them bigger than Aito were like a breeze to Aito. He was having the time of his life by walking all over them… not really, even with his advanced senses, he was having a hard time keeping up with them.

For the most part, Aito was an Average kid, in height and body weight. And the kids here were above average, the blonde being bigger than the bunch. Next was, all of them except Aito had a quirk.

Having a quirk meant that, all of their physical capabilities would be higher compared to Aito, who is quirkless.

Oh, boy can these quirks be annoying? It can greatly annoy the hell out of you with all the mambo jumbo. Like the girl who can detach her body and still run like a lizard? like bro, is all this gore even accepted in this society without any qualms?

Despite all that, Aito was still the top dog. He stood over all of them with his superior tactics, agile body and leadership qualities.

'Wait! Am I feeling satisfied for showing off in front of some kids?'

[…]

"Oh, Lord! How low have I fallen?"

"Are you praying now that you can't escape, kid?"

"Do you feel no shame to dangle a helpless kid from his leg, lady?"

"Nop, not in the slightest," The short rabbit-eared woman said as she shook the dangling Aito by his leg. "Just give up, or you can stay like this… forever," she smiled, showing off her pearly white teeth and blood-red eyes. It added up to a moderately menacing sight, capable of shaking kids by the boots, but to Aito who was overly familiar with the menacing auras of warriors aiming to cut each other's throats, it was cute at best.

"Why should I admit defeat? According to the rules, I've already lost, you can just put me down and declare yourself the winner."

"You know exactly what I want, you sneaky little bastard." The rabbit woman shook Aito further, But Aito only giggled, a smirk formed on his face, mirroring the rabbit woman's own.

It was a stubbornness born out of sheer pettiness. When the grown-ass adult decided to join the fray of some playschools playing tag, Aito was confused, why would an adult want to play with children? But when the same adult broke Aito's winning streak, he was annoyed. So, he tricked the women two times into losing.

As evident from her brutish attitude, the woman wasn't one to like mind games and deceit. So, she used all her capabilities to tag Aito, even with the odds stacked against her.

'Yet another example of overwhelming power can topple any strategy in the world with supernaturals.'

[It's not that deep, chill.] Ciel's voice sounded amused, and Aito knew exactly where that amusement came from, Aito didn't want to dwell on that subject so he asked Ciel something that caught his eye.

'Where did Mom and Yuuki go?'

[Dunno, I just saw a portal opening and closing, Energy signals suggested that it's Merlin's handiwork.]

'A portal? Now to use something so incredibly energy-consuming, it must be really urgent.'

'…But…Did they forget about me in the rush?'

'How considerate of them to abandon me so easily! Is this how the world works now? How low had the world fallen?'

[Stop being such a drama queen, everyone except Yuuki and Tao is here.]

'Yeasssh'

"Stop shaking me, lady."

"Admit defeat, will you?"

"Fiineee."

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you?"

"Even with that long-ass ear? Damn lady, you should see an otolaryngologist- ahhhh, fine, fine… I admit defeat."

"There you go, children should know when to give up." For her credit, the rabbit woman placed Aito gently on the ground and dusted off his dirt-covered clothes.

"And I have a name, My name's Rumi Usagiyama."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Rumi, I am Aito Okabe. And it has not been a pleasure to meet you."

"That makes the two of us." Rumi shook hands.

As the ridiculous tension between both the young women and the child was escalating, Mizuki called out everyone for some snacks. And Aito quietly snuck behind them and headed to an inconspicuous location close to a Sakura tree.

He reeled back his foot and kicked the seemingly empty air. His foot struck the empty air, causing an audible thud of flesh meeting leather.

A human figure materialized from thin air, starting from the spot where Aito had struck with his foot.

"Ouch," a very dull pained sound escaped the lips of the new figure, "That was very inappropriate, Your Highness!" The man with dirt blonde hair looked down as he said in a plain manner.

"First of all, you couldn't be any more convincing if you tried. And second of all, 'Your Highness?' where did that come from?"

"…always calling Your Highness, Young Master feels a bit dull, So I was trying to try a variety."

"Stop that!"

"…As you wish."

"…What's gotten into you?"

"Whatever you mean?"

"…" Ron wasn't one to quickly back down without Trying to further tease Aito, as such, Aito narrowed his eyes at Ron, wondering what he was up to. "Never mind!"

"But, young master?"

"Mmm?"

"How did you find out where I was hiding?" Ron had a rather unpleasant hobby of hiding his presence, which he usually used to spook Aito. Recently, Ciel had devised a way to find him when he was hiding. When Ron isn't giving his 100% into hiding, the runic engraving on his clothes can give out a very distinct aura, coupled with Aito's hypersensitivity towards any kind of energy fluctuations, it was nothing but a breeze to find Ron. Granted, Ron isn't giving his 100%.

After all, even Yuuki can have a hard time finding Ron, if he were to give his all into hiding. But there was no reason for Aito to reveal this to Ron.

A little smirk formed on Aito's lips as he looked up at Ron.

"Secret."

"Sigh." The man only let out a sigh.

Seeing the stoic attitude of the usually cheerful Ron, Aito couldn't help but wonder whatever the urgency was for Tao and Yuuki, to leave even without him.

"So, do you know why Mom, left without me?"

"I don't know the specifics, but it seems like something urgent regarding our latest shipment came up."

Aito could guess what happened. They must've didn't want to interrupt Aito who was having fun, which was a rare sight.

Looking at the figure of Aito who looked like he was in deep thought, Ron extended a candy.

"Do you want some candy, Young Master?"

Aito looked up and saw the unnatural smile on Ron's face.

Aito wouldn't admit it, but Ron was like a fun uncle to Aito, he wasn't always around, but it was always fun to have him around. Merlin too, but that guy's a mad scientist, not someone you want to be around for long.

So, what would it like be to witness, the hand of the same uncle who just offered you a candy, flying?

It was abrupt. Aito felt a pair of large hands wrapped around him as he was yeeted from where he was standing. With his qi sense and enhanced perception activating consequently, Aito 'saw' the full event transpiring.

The hands that were holding him were that of Youhara, a wolfman escort of Tao. The man had a not-so-calm expression on his face as he carried Aito, and blitzed with speed incomprehensible to mortals.

Infront of him, Kimi, one of Yuuki's students, swung her sword in with speed comparable to Youhara as she Cut the hand of Ron who was holding out the candy to Aito.

Uncaring of his lost hand, Ron tried to grab forth towards Kimi, with an agile motion. But with incredible swiftness and manoeuvrability, Kimi parried the hand and sent a kick toward the midsection of Ron.

Ron was sent spiralling backwards. He seemingly stopped in his tracks as he used the atmosphere to cushion his momentum.

Although it took some paragraphs to explain, all of this happned in the blink of an eye. Leaving Aito like a sitting duck, even within his advanced perception.

Normally, the momentum at which Youhara was travelling would be deadly to Aito, but the glowing runic pattern on his plain t-shirt was keeping the dangerous atmospheric friction away.

With his sensitivity to energy fluctuations, Aito could tell that Youhara was desperately trying to activate another rune on Aito's t-shirt, but for whatever reason, it wasn't working.

Not even a moment later, Youhara violently crashed onto an invisible wall that was seemingly hard enough to withstand the deadly mana-enhanced claw of the tribal beast man. Even still, the man holding onto Aito as if he were a fragile glass.

…

..